The Big Brother 11 Jury (the 7th juror was America's Vote)
The Jury was introduced in Big Brother 2. The final seven evicted houseguests, not including the Final 2, are members of The Jury. They vote for the winner of Big Brother. Up until Big Brother 4, all the evicted houseguests voted for the winner of Big Brother. The Jury became only the final seven evicted houseguests because in Big Brother 3, Danielle Reyes lost the season because of her Diary Room confessions. Thus, The Jury and the Sequester House were born. From Big Brother 15 onwards, the jury has consisted of nine houseguests. Big Brother: Over The Top had no jury, being the first season since its introduction in BB2 to not feature a jury.
The Jury House
Each member of the Jury lives the remainder of the Big Brother game in total seclusion, arriving in an undisclosed location, usually a tropical and beautiful house. They have access to movies and games, a pool, and (depending on the location) a private beach. They are not allowed communication with the outside world so that their votes are not tainted by behind-the-scenes information, such as secret alliances or betrayals that they may not be aware of.
The Jury stays privy to house happenings in the form of a DVD brought along with the most recent evicted houseguest, showcasing competitions and other group activities. Secret meetings, Diary Room sessions, and other happenings that do not include the entire group of remaining houseguests are not disclosed.
In Big Brother Canada 1 and Big Brother 15 - Big Brother 18, the jury members got a chance to return to the game. Big Brother Canada had a public vote, while Big Brother 15 - 18 had a competition.
Voting
On finale night, each juror casts a vote for whom they would like to see be the winner of Big Brother. Each vote is one of the names of the Final 2 written on a key (or a chip for BBCan), which the juror places in the nomination box. In the same format as a Nomination Ceremony, the keys are removed one at a time, revealing the winner of the season.
Jury Configurations
| Configurations | ||||
| Finalists | Jurors | Occurrences | Seasons (US) | Seasons (Can) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Two | 6 + Public Vote | 3 | Seasons 8, 11 | Season 2 |
| Final Two | 7 | 10 | Seasons 4-7, 9-10, 12-14 | Season 1 |
| Final Two | 9 (2 cancelled) | 1 | Season 2 | N/A |
| Final Two | 8 + Public Vote | 1 | N/A | Season 4 |
| Final Two | 9 | 4 | Seasons 15-18 | Season 5 |
| Final Two | 10 (1 cancelled) | 1 | N/A | Season 3 |
| Final Two | 10 + Public Tiebreaker | 1 | Season 3 | N/A |
| Final Three | Public Vote | 2 | Seasons 1, OTT | N/A |
Trivia
- Big Brother 3 and Big Brother Canada 3 currently hold the record for the most jury members with 10, however in the latter, the Final 3 must strip one of the Jurors of their Jury vote, dropping it down to 9. Seasons 15 - 18, and the prior mentioned Big Brother Canada 3 (with 9 jury votes) are the only other seasons in which ultimately more than 7 jury votes chose a winner.
- Big Brother 2 would have also had 10 jurors if Justin Sebik had not been expelled.
- In Big Brother 2, the final two were given the option to nullify two jury votes (one per finalist), making it the first and so far only time in Big Brother history that two jury votes were negated.
- The four seasons in which the public has voted at the jury were Big Brother 3 (the public picked the winner in case of a tie), Big Brother 8 (as the public controlled Eric Stein's jury vote due to the America's Player twist), Big Brother 11 (due to the ejection of Chima Simone, a would be jury member), and Big Brother Canada 2 (where the 7th vote was given to Canada in a twist)
- In Big Brother 15 the format was changed back to a jury of nine because of the large number of houseguests (16) that season and it has been used ever since.
- Strangely, Big Brother 9 and Big Brother 14 both had 16 houseguests but still retained a jury of seven.
- Sheryl Braxton was the first ever jury member in Big Brother history.
- Dana Varela was the first jury member of a sequestered jury.
- All 5 seasons of Big Brother Canada had different jury configurations.